“Hurry up, Ellis. Margaret won’t take long to get here.”
Fallon’s talking with Ellis as if they’re carrying out some preconceived plan, but that couldn’t be, unless …. Ellis looks at me with unconditional despair.
“Not you,” I say, as grief takes over my soul. “Your brother? Specimen?”
“Please let me explain.” He looks pale and tired
I can’t speak. I don’t want to hear his explanation.
I’m nauseated from the pain, from the humiliation, and from the realization that I have just lost everything. Again. And this time, there is nothing left inside me.
Ellis takes a deep breath. “What you saw in the building, the pictures, the articles. They were all part of a long and complicated research project. I was assigned to you. I was supposed to keep you around, until ….” He pauses, rubbing his temples. He and Fallon exchange glances and Fallon nods. “Until you served your purpose.”
I was wrong, there must be something left inside me, because his words fill me with a burning ache, as the first of my tears roll down my cheeks. I don’t want to hear anymore. Even after all the crap and torture I had endured at home, there was still a part of me that believed I’d find a way to make my life better. But now I know I never will. I’m done trying. I bury myself under the covers.
Ellis pulls the blankets away, and I see that his eyes are swimming too.
“But it all went wrong from the beginning,” he continues. “You were hurt and that made the whole outcome questionable. It’s why you had to stay here, and then I got to know you. You now matter to me because of you, not because of the project. I’m not sure how it happened, but I think … I think … I love you.” His voice breaks.
My head throbs.
“You think you love me? How dare you!” My hands clench around the covers. “I trusted you, bared my soul to you. And, for you, it was all a game.”
“I’m sorry. But I need to tell ….”
“I was assigned to you! I served my purpose. Exactly what purpose?” I demand.
Ellis takes my hand. I pull away, and the movement sends a surge of pain shooting through me.
“Just tell her everything. Do it, Ellis.” Fallon sounds deflated. The anger that always seemed to consume him is gone. His whole body sags.
Ellis runs his hands through his hair. His lovely, evil hair.
“Kalli, this is going to be hard, maybe impossible to believe, but it is the truth and I can prove it to you. I’m not from your world. I’m what you would call an alien.”
CHAPTER 14
Everything falls away. The room, the house, the trees, everything.
“I know it sounds ridiculous. But I’m not from Earth. I’m from Istriya. It’s a planet very far away.”
Fits of laughter rake over my body, bringing with it, fits of pain. He’s crazy. It’s perfect. I’ve fallen absurdly in love with a raving, lying, stalking lunatic. An alien?
“Okay, watch this,” he says, and then he’s gone and reappears instantly beside Fallon, who stands by the front door.
And then Ellis is gone again, this time appearing in the kitchen and then outside the window and then at my side, all before I have taken another breath. How can anyone move like that? It must been an illusion, a trick.
“I know it’s a lot to believe, but do you remember the night I found you? You said something to me about flying. Something like ‘anywhere is fast when you can fly.’ Well, I can’t fly, but I can move very quickly compared to you. Everyone on my planet can. Kalli, it wasn’t supposed to be this way. But here we are.”
I don’t want to listen. I won’t allow his words to penetrate deep enough to understand.
“What I am about to tell you will seem unbelievable. But if you are to live, and you have to live, then you must believe.”
I don’t want to believe. He betrayed me.
“Please, Kalli. Listen to me.” His voice is full of warning. And despite my intention not to listen, I can’t help myself. And his story winds its way into my brain.
A planet, similar to Earth, located in another galaxy. The people, facing extinction since their females can no longer bear children. Even Margaret, the most renowned healer in Istriya, not being able to help. So they came here, to find women who could incubate their embryos. In three days, their ship will return to take the embryos back home. The memories of all the women they used were to be erased. But according to Ellis, everything has changed.
I need to get away from here. I am a fool. Ellis is not my angel. He’s a monster.
Unwilling to yield to the shooting spasms, I throw the covers off and burst from the bed. Ellis stops me just as my feet touch the ground.
“Let go of me!” I scream.
“I can’t let you go. Not just yet. Not until you know everything. Listen, I’m sorry, but Margaret’s going to be here very soon. There isn’t much time, and there’s so much to tell you.”
I look into his eyes, and for the first time I see him, see him for who he actually is. My fists tighten, and all the fury I have buried inside me comes rushing out.
“You son of a bitch! You lied to me. You knew my secrets. You knew what I needed to hear. You never cared about me. You just used me.”
With each blow I send reeling into him, I can see Sita’s cold eyes boring into me, I can see my mother’s useless eyes allowing unspeakable harm to come to me, I can see my father’s vacant eyes as he walks away from me, and I can see Ellis’s eyes, betraying me with each false word of kindness he ever spoke.
I ache all over, as if each time I strike Ellis, I’ve hit myself.
Ellis doesn’t move. He remains fixed like a wall. “Kalli, Margaret’s coming. When you were bleeding, Fallon called her. He didn’t know what else to do.”
We both turn to see Fallon, pacing by the front door. “Hurry up, Ellis,” he says.
Ellis takes hold of my wrists and holds me so that I’m rooted right in front of him. “Margaret can’t know that you remember Sammy. At the clinic, when you asked about a little boy, it was shocking. No one expected you to have any recollection of him at all. When she repaired your injuries, she also injected you with a serum that removed the memory of Sammy. Your bond with Sammy was the only memory we had to erase, so that you wouldn’t have any reason to leave. It was critical that you remained with me for seven days.
“Fortunately, you seemed convinced that there was no child, and Margaret was appeased. If she discovers that you now remember Sammy, she’ll realize that the memory modifier doesn’t work, and she’ll kill you and all the other women.”
I’m unable to think, to process all he says to me, though I do understand the last part. I won’t be a victim again. I turn to run, but Ellis scoops me up easily and holds me close to him.
He whispers, “I do love you, Kalli. I always will,” when the front door explodes into shards of flying metal. Fallon screams and falls to the ground, his body shimmering in silver. I watch, transfixed, as Margaret steps over the bits of steel, her face full of rage.
CHAPTER 15
Ellis’s fingers dig into my sides as his body tenses. “Oh God. Fallon,” he says.
Fallon groans. Specks of blood collect where the shards of steel pierced his body.
“I heard there was a problem,” Margaret says, nodding toward me.
“What did you do, Margaret?” Ellis says.
“What did I do?” she challenges. “I think we know perfectly well what is going on here.”
“You can’t just leave him like that.”
“I don’t see you rushing to his aid,” rebukes Margaret.
Ellis’s face is sallow. His eyes are glued to Margaret, unwavering.
“Ellis, put Kalli down and come over here and tend to your brother,” Margaret says, a note of warning in her voice. “Ellis!” Margaret repeats.
But he doesn’t move. “I’ll put her down if you give me your word that no harm will come to her. That you will leave her alone. We’ll modify her memory as p
lanned. She won’t remember any of this.”
“Oh, I will make sure she never remembers any of this,” Margaret says.
“That’s not what I mean, Margaret. No one is supposed to get hurt. That is the most important decree,” says Ellis.
“The most important decree is to save our people!” Her voice reverberates between my ribs.
“That’s not true. You only got permission to carry out this project because you swore that none of the specimens would be harmed.”
I flinch at the word ‘specimen.’
“You didn’t even come and help us when she was bleeding. Margaret, she almost died,” Ellis says.
“We have enough specimens. She was a spare. I didn’t expect anything from her, given the state she was in when you brought her to me.”
“A spare! Does Fallon know she was a spare? Because he did everything in his power to save her. To save the ….” Ellis presses me into his body with such force that I can’t breathe.
“Enough! Those hosts mean nothing. Their only purpose is to help save our people. The Council Leaders entrusted us with this job. We must carry it out,” Margaret says.
Ellis sighs and loosens his hold on me. His voice is even again. “We will carry it out, but no one has to get hurt.”
“The discussion is over. Do as I say, Ellis, or you will suffer the same fate as Kalli and anyone else who gets in the way,” threatens Margaret.
Ellis looks from me to Margaret and with the slightest nod of his head, I know. He has made his choice, and it’s not me. It never was. I’m going to die, alone and unloved. He said he loved me, and I almost believed him in spite of everything. I needed to believe him. I needed to believe in the possibility that I could still be loved. But it’s not true, and it never will be true.
Tears stream down my cheeks as he places me on the bed. He brings his lips to my ears, but instead of whispering more meaningless lies about his love for me, he says, “Don’t move,” and then he’s gone.
Thunderous sounds envelope the house. Margaret and Ellis become blurred objects moving at such great speeds, that it is impossible to distinguish who is who.
“Enough!” Margaret’s shrill voice brings the chaos to an end.
Ellis is at the foot of the bed holding what looks like a large silver candlestick.
“No, Ellis. Don’t do it!”
All three of us turn toward the sound. It’s Fallon. He staggers toward Ellis, pulling out bits of steel lodged in his skin.
“Fallon, you’re okay,” Ellis says, relief coloring his face.
“Don’t do it,” Fallon gasps.
“She leaves me no choice. I can’t let her kill Kalli.”
“No one has to die. Margaret, we just have to inject Kalli with the amnibitor serum and she won’t remember anything. And then the three of us can leave. We have collected enough embryos. We have succeeded,” says Fallon.
“It is not that simple,” Margaret says.
“Yes, it is,” Fallon insists.
“You both have broken the rules of this assignment, and there are consequences to your betrayal. Lessons must be learned,” Margaret says, puffing herself out. “This is over. Ellis has made his choice. Fallon, take hold of your brother.”
But Fallon doesn’t move. “Margaret, just give me the bag. I’ll administer the memory modifier.”
“Not you too, Fallon?” She looks at Ellis. “I thought I had raised at least one of my sons properly. But you’re just as weak.”
Her sons?
“This mission will not fail because of either of you. The existence of our planet must remain a secret. I will not risk the chance that any of the specimens remember anything.” Margaret reaches into her bag and pulls out a large metal needle.
“Stop, Margaret! What are you talking about? The only reason we came here was to save our planet. Who cares if people know about it? It’s so far away, they’ll never find us,” Ellis says.
“You are so naïve. Of course it matters. I’ve watched these humans. They butcher everything they touch. They destroy other creatures that share this planet with them. They have a need to seek out, take over, and kill. If they found out about us, they wouldn’t stop until they annihilated us.”
“That’s not true. Kalli is human, and she’s the kindest soul I have ever met.”
“You are weak, Ellis. You disgust me.” Margaret takes a step toward us.
“Don’t make me do this,” Ellis says, brandishing the long silver object.
Margaret’s face contorts. Her nostrils flare, her lips curl. “How dare you! How dare you threaten me?”
“I don’t want to do this. Just do the right thing. No one has to get hurt. No one was supposed to get hurt,” says Ellis.
“You were supposed to do what I say and nothing else,” Margaret shouts.
Fallon walks between Margaret and Ellis. “We have what we came for. We stick to the plan. We modify the women’s memories and leave. No one has to get hurt.”
“No. It is too risky. I will not leave any loose ends.” She looks straight at me.
“You’re not a murderer,” Ellis says.
She laughs. “What do you think is going to happen to all those specimens? Once we remove the embryos, there will be no need for the hosts.”
“What? You promised the Council that no one would be harmed.”
“Ellis, do not be so naïve. Our people are depending on us. They will die if we fail. We were handpicked to do this.”
“But you said we would just modify the specimen’s memories. Killing is wrong. Please, Margaret, don’t.”
“Modification doesn’t always work. But I think you already knew that.” She raises her head toward me. “There have been some difficult cases. And we had no choice but to—”
“You’ve already killed some of them? When the Council finds out, they’ll be furious. ‘Cause no harm.’ That was the main decree.” Ellis is shaking.
“But the Council will never find out.” Margaret walks toward me, the needle held firmly between her fingers.
Ellis propels the silver candlestick toward Margaret, but Fallon snatches it. Margaret smiles. She has won. Fallon has stepped in to save her and will use the weapon against Ellis while she kills me. Fallon looks at his brother and then twists the candlestick and lunges at Margaret. Her realization comes too late. She crumples in a heap on the floor with the silver object deeply embedded into her chest.
CHAPTER 16
No one speaks. No one breathes.
“Oh shit! What have I done? What have I done?” Fallon runs his hands along his scalp with such force that he stretches and distorts his face.
“Oh my God. Margaret’s dead? She’s dead?” I’m on my feet. I have to get out of here.
“No, she’s not dead,” says Ellis. “Fallon, how long did you set the immobilizer for?”
No response.
“Fallon!” Ellis repeats.
“I set it for four hours.” Fallon backs away from Margaret’s body. He looks small and vulnerable. His bulk seems to shrink, devoured by guilt.
“Kalli, you can’t leave. It’s not safe.” Ellis grabs on to my shoulder. “We have four hours until she wakes up.”
“I can’t believe I did that. This is treachery. If the Council finds out—”
“No, Fallon. What Margaret was going to do was treachery. We had to stop her.”
“But we’ve only got four hours. What can we do in four hours?” Fallon says, his voice on the edge of hysteria.
“Kalli, I know this must seem crazy to you. You were never supposed to know any of it.” Ellis presses his head between his hands. “I wish we never did this. I wish I tried to stop it.” He looks up. “I convinced myself that what we were doing was justified to save our people. We tricked you and all those other girls and women. We chose the vulnerable, and we violated your bodies.”
My hand strokes my stomach. A baby? The thought makes me want to pull myself free from my skin.
“Was there really a b
aby inside me? I was pregnant?”
My tongue feels thick and heavy as the magnitude of the question clings to it.
“Your body provided the protective encasing for the embryo to absorb the nuveau flureans. Margaret discovered that somehow humans have almost the same genetic construction that we do, and it would only take seven days for the embryos to absorb what they needed to survive. Then they could be implanted into their mothers and carried safely to term. So you weren’t really pregnant. To your body, it was more like a virus that would go away in a week.”
“I heard Fallon. He said I was going to die!”
“That wasn’t supposed to happen either. It was because you had been injured in the alley. We shouldn’t have used you. Your body wasn’t strong enough because of the damage from the attack.” He’s talking fast, as if the speed of his words will make me understand.
“But you didn’t care. You did it anyway.” I shove him away from me. “You … you invaded my body. You put something inside me. Something living and growing inside me!”
“It didn’t hurt you. Margaret prepared your body before she inserted the egg inside you. The amount of our nuveau flureans that passed through your circulatory system will pose you no long-term harm. We made sure.”
“You made sure? Just like you made sure that no one would be harmed? Just like you made sure that I would never remember any of this?” Each word I spit out at him drips with sarcasm.
His expression changes in a way I’ve never seen before. Lines transform his once beautiful face. I turn away, refusing to feel any pity.
“I know it was all wrong. I realize that now. And I know I have no right to ask, but I need your help to fix it.” His face is pleading.
I feel like a bomb explodes inside me. “You think I would help you?”
“Not me. But I’m hoping you will help me try and save the other imprisoned women and yourself.” He reaches out to me but pulls back before we touch. “The Council doesn’t know that the memory modifier doesn’t work. They don’t know that Margaret has killed and will again.”
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